Morality is not determined by the church you attend nor the faith you embrace. It is determined by the quality of your character and the positive impact you have on those you meet along your journey

Sunday, October 21, 2012

So much for the separation of church and state.

Courtesy of Ken 5:
A controversy regarding a political sign prominently displayed outside a church is playing out in a small town west of San Antonio.

Is it protected speech or political hate? And does it have a place on a church marquee?

The sign reads, "Vote for the Mormon, not the Muslim! The capitalist, not the communist!"

That marquee standing outside a non-denominational church has become the talk of the town in Leakey — about 90 miles northwest of San Antonio.

The Church in the Valley is run by Pastor Ray Miller. Miller declined an interview but did say the sign was solely his idea. He said he changes the sign weekly and this isn't the first bold statement to be displayed.

Now I don't know if this Pastor is one of those testing the First Amendment this election cycle ,but I would have to say that his sign is not only provocative, it is also completely false.

In fact the thing that really burns my ass sometimes is by all indications President Obama is EXACTLY the kind of Christian that in years past the Christian community would have readily embraced. Though he does not constantly tout his faith, he often refers to God in his speeches and seems to live the kind of moral and ethical life that Christian's admire and often claim is the direct result of THEIR religious faith.

Yet for some reason this man is given virtually NO credit for his beliefs.

Now that could be due to the fact that he supports a woman's right to choose. Or that he supports marriage equality, and did away with DADT in the military. Or perhaps it is because he does not genuflect in Israel's direction as often as the Fundamentalists would like.

Or, and surely this can't be it, he is not the right shade of Christian for these close minded assholes.

But whatever whatever the reason it is sadly NOT simply contained to a few Fundamentalist churches in Texas. As evidenced by this face palm worthy headline posted at CNN.

The text in red was added by the Redditor that captured this image.

Now CNN does go on to explore exactly why some question Obama's faith and why he is not embraced by many Christians in this country, but I have to point out that many will simply see that headline, agree with it, and never bother to read the story. In other words, you are not helping CNN!

"... What is not as well documented is a subsidiary of that private equity firm hiring employees of a failed firm tied to a Ponzi scheme that has a long history of money laundering for Latin American drug cartels and to the Iran-Contra scandal.

As reported by ThinkProgress, Solamere Capital Partner's subsidiary Solamere Advisors is a investment advisory group, providing advice to Solamere clients and boosting sales. Would-be corporate pugilist Tagg Romney is a director. According to the New York Times, all but one of its 11 employees came from the Charlotte office of the Stanford Financial Group, the US investment arm of convicted felon R. Allen Stanford's offshore banking and fraud network that comprised a host of companies including the Stanford International Bank, Stanford Capital Management, The Bank of Antigua, Stanford Trust and Stanford Gold and Bullion. Three of these employees, Tim Bambauer, Deems May, and Brandon Phillips, received incentive compensation related to their direct sales of securities linked to a fraud that brought down this banking network.

Tim Bambauer has left his position as managing partner at Solamere Advisors. May and Phillips remain employed as partner and chief compliance officer respectively.

Allen Stanford is currently serving a 110-year prison sentence for convictions on 13 counts of fraud..."

The CNN article is excellent. Thank you, Gryphen. I have posted it on Facebook. I just never could understand why caring for a community was equated with Communism. The contrast of social caring and self soul saving didn't play into my thinking. Should Christians care more about others or their own salvation? There is a verse in the Bible that says something about how caring for the least of men is caring for Jesus. Maybe some of the fundamentalists forgot about that verse.

i am the 'kind of Christian" who fully embraces President Obama, because I believe he does embody that which my faith asks of a person. There are laws specifically engaged that require ministers, pastors, etc, to not only avoid, but refrain from preaching politics from the pulpit. Even Jesus avoided politics, and who would know better how to cream the Romans? To those bigoted, racist, hate-filled, moralizing preachers AND their congregants: Pick a freaking lane and stay in it! You're either a Christian or you're not....there's no grey area. And if your politics prevent you from answering truthfully, you've got a problem. And now you've made it a problem for the entire country. It's nothing more than cannibalization of another Christian...Obama. In your zeal to prove your skewed concept of faith, you've been devouring one of your own.

I live in West Texas, sadly this type of racism is rampant out here. I support the President but there is no way I would put anything on my car or in my yard indicating that. When the President wins again, a lot of heads will be spinning out here in the desert.

President Obama has brought the country through its darkest days since FDR was president. One war is over, another is ending. The perpetrator of 9/11 is dead and his colleagues are in jail, dead or being hunted mercilessly.

Yes, there is no rainbow on the horizon. And may not be if Congressional Republicans refuse to be reasonable. But the clouds are clearing off, if ever so slowly.

Mitt Romney offers neither credible alternatives nor tangible ideas to make the slogging that still lies ahead any easier or less painful for Americans.

In contrast, President Obama has earned his chops in the leadership department. He has thus earned the country's respect, its thanks and its vote for a second term.

To be fair, Gryphen, you didn't really want to give him credit for his beliefs, either. I seem to recall a post from you where you suggested that maybe President Obama was acting like a devout Christian for political expediency and was perhaps not a true believer as he has claimed many times over many years. I do not understand why people have a problem accepting that he is a Christian. It honestly makes no sense.

President Obama has demonstrated an understanding of the primary principles emphasized by Jesus, with a moral obligation to care for those most in need.

From the time when he worked for $10,000 a year trying to help the poorest disenfranchised people of Chicago (the much-maligned community service) to his underpaid work as President (when he could continue to make millions as a civilian), our President has shown his Christian commitment.

He doesn't wear his faith on his sleeve, and posture around praying in public like a Pharisee. But 20 years ago, he was married in the church, and his children were christened shortly after their respective births. Did he do this in anticipation of his election to President? Not likely.

He's a good role model of a Christian. He doesn't brag about his faith, he just lives it. If this angers fundamentalists and/or atheists, they must just suck it up.

Swing state papers in Colorado, Ohio, North Carolina, and Arizona (yes, Arizona is turning out to be a 2012 surprise of a swing state) endorsed President Obama this weekend. They write that Romney has no core conviction other than thinking he should be president, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Akron Beacon Journal writes that Romney’s comments about the 47% render him unworthy of the presidency, “He either was telling the crowd what he thought it wanted to hear, or he believes what he said. Either way, the words aren’t worthy of a president.”

Its so called Christian behavior and rhetoric like that Preacher's that drove me away from Fundamentalists.They believe no matter what they do they are going to Heaven.I think they are in for a rude awakening!

As if I wasn't angry enough...I saw Ryan's tweet from yesterday--"The protection of religious liberty will be a cornerstone of a Romney-Ryan administration."--and followed the link

http://mi.tt/RBRelJ

The redefinition of religious freedom as institutional control over individual conscious is a real gem. I'm gobsmacked by the Romney/Ryan claim that their version of religious freedom is THE most important 1st Amendment freedom.

I'll never understand why capitalism is considered to be moral by some Christians. Do they really think that Jesus would advocate making as much money as possible? Have these idiots even read that damn holy book they're always trying to shove down the rest of our throats?

This has nothing to do with the separation of church and state or the US Constitution. The idea is that the church won't become the state. It means that much as fundamentalists believe this is a Christian nation, they cannot prevail.

A church is private and can do any fool thing it wants to do. It is protected from government interference, and that is one of the many great things about our precious Constitution.

I think it is time we stop giving churches tax exempt status.They lost that right when they started buying up hospitals, businesses and delving into politics with big money. Catholics and Mormons have been at the forefront of doing all of the above. They are dirty in politics, healthcare, taking care of the poor (nuns too) and going after gay rights/abortion issues.It is about damned time they paid for it in tax dollars.I go to a hospital for medical treatment -not faith.I go to eat because I am hungry.I support the poor because they need a hand.I support civil rights because being it is the right thing to do.

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This blog is dedicated to finding the truth, exposing the lies, and holding our politicians and leaders accountable when they fall far short of the promises that they have made to both my fellow Alaskans and the American people.